Tennis Court Repair
One of the most common problems seen with asphalt and concrete tennis courts is surface cracking. Which is why you need a decent tennis court repair service. There are many causes for pavement cracks from improper construction to oxidation and ground movement. Once pavement begins to crack, it becomes a maintenance issue. Permanent crack repair has not been perfected yet, but there are some good products and methods to maintain them and slow down the degradation.
Why should you fill the cracks?
When cracks appear in the court surface, water can drain into the crack and loosen the base materials. This can speed up the growth of the crack or result in bigger problems. Also, excessive water that penetrates the surface cracking can freeze and expand to create more cracking.
Hard tennis court surfaces are acrylic based. When filling the cracks, make sure to always use an acrylic crack sealant that is compatible with the surfacing materials. Asphalt based, also known as “rubberized” crack fillers, should not be used with acrylic tennis court coatings. While asphalt based crack fillers may be good at sealing the crack, acrylic coatings will not adhere to them for very long. The beautiful court surface will soon have black lines all over where the color coatings release.
If your court is located in an area that has freezing temperatures or expansive soils, you may want to look for an elastomeric tennis court crack filler. These products are flexible and can stretch with the expanding and contracting cracks or joints. Some manufacturers also make acrylic crack fillers in common colors or neutral, tintable formulas. This way you do not have to resurface the entire court to hide the crack repair if it is not necessary.
Some minor tennis court repairs can be performed by do-it-yourselfers. However, extensive damage or cracks with heaving should be repaired by a professional sport surfacing contractor. If you need assistance locating a qualified applicator near you, contact a manufacturer of sport surfaces for contractor referrals.
Here are some options for repair that will keep those racquets swinging and balls bouncing all season long.
Caulking: There are a wide variety of specialty caulks available on the market, but they should only be considered a quick-fix only. Custom-tinted caulking is poured into the cracks where it hardens and fills the void. Unfortunately caulking is not a solution at all for large gaps nor can it effectively seep into extremely narrow fissures, making it quite limited in its applications. Additionally, the natural seasonal expansion and contraction of the concrete can cause cracks to reappear extremely quickly.
Asphalt Patching: With this tennis court repair method, the affected concrete area is cut out and new asphalt is poured in its place. Chemistry and physics get in the way here, however. New asphalt has great difficulty binding with old asphalt and more often than not you will be left with a series of brand new cracks along the perimeter of the patched area.
Expandable Fabric: Widely considered as the most effective method of repair over the long term, specially-engineered fabric is applied over the crack prior to repainting. Because it’s expandable, it is able to withstand expansion and contraction and will absorb any kind of movement without ripping.
When it comes to tennis court repair, a quick fix is seldom the wisest solution: choose a method that is made to last.
Originally published at tenniscourtrepair.blogspot.com.
